That was last December.
More recently, at a donor recognition ceremony at Toronto General Hospital, the 22-year-old Mississauga resident and her friend, Sunila Sharma, 43, shared stories and reflected on events of the past six months or so that have given Sharma a new lease on life.
Chandok, who postponed her graduation from the University of Windsor so she could make the life-saving donation, says hearing Sharma's laugh makes her own painful recovery well worth it. Both women are now fully recovered.
Chandok said she didn't hesitate when she learned last fall of her friend's plight — and that she was a suitable donor.
She endured more than a month of agonizing pain, including one week in the Intensive Care Unit that she doesn't even remember.
Today, an eight-inch scar running down the middle of her stomach reminds her of her selfless act.
Sharma, who lives in Brampton and is a friend of Chandok's family, is an even greater reminder — a living reminder.
When Sharma, who was dealing with chronic liver disease, first learned of Chandok's life-saving offer, she couldn't even speak she was so overcome with emotion.
"Thank you, thank you," is all she could get out, Chandok recalled.
Chandok said that after learning she was a suitable donor — she had the same blood type and body type as Sharma, and she was a non-smoker with a clean system — the decision was easy.
She also learned that the liver regenerates to full size in six-to-eight weeks.
"...I couldn't not do this," Chandok said. "I could save her life; why wouldn't I do that. What have I got to lose."
Chandok went for comprehensive tests in advance of the Dec. 10 surgery, when she and Sharma underwent an eight-hour procedure.
The surgeon warned Chandok about the pain she'd face.
"He said it would feel like I got hit by a bus and run over, but it still didn't prepare me for it," she said.
The two women saw one another five days after surgery, in what was an emotional meeting.
"She looked great, absolutely terrific; all her symptoms had disappeared," Chandok said.
In the weeks that followed, Chandok's weight dropped from 108 pounds to 88. She doesn't sugar-coat the pain.
Nurses would ask her the pain level, and "I'd reply 10, 10, 10, every day; it was excruciating," Chandok recalled.
One week after surgery, she went home.
"It would literally take me 15 minutes to walk from the living room to the front door because of the pain," said Chandok, who was back on her feet in about a month, and returned to university to a lighter class load.
Now completely recovered, Chandok said the experience has put life into perspective.
"You discover the value of life and we have to take a look at the things we worry about and think, why bother," she said.
Of her painful ordeal in the month following surgery, Chandok said, "It's just one month. (Sharma's) got her whole life now."
jslack@mississauga.net
